The Bayesian algorithm we use to calculate the Snoothrank is proprietary and takes into account many items including the scores, number of reviews, source of reviews, dates and so on. Its a similar algorithm to that used by Netflix, IMBD and others. However, it is unlike the one used by Amazon, which is just a geometric mean.

We've very rarely seen anything like you mention, and in the few (less than 5) cases that we have, we've moved quickly to tweak the algorithm, warn the user, or ban them as appropriate.

I dont know that wine myself, but maybe its just a really good wine? I had a $10 Cab Franc recently that I've been singing praises for - its not in the top 10 yet, but I'll be bringing a bottle into the office tomorrow, so I'll get a few more reviews added to it.